参考英汉互译课lecture12

1、Chapter 5Texture of the Sentence Structure Texture refers to the fine structure of the sentence, that is, the structure below the level of sentence structure. This chapter will mainly talk about the minor structures of the sentence that may cause difficulties in translation between Chinese and Engli

2、sh, eg. Word order, meaning condensed in the relative clause, semantic function of the conjunction and, when, etc.1. Word Order Chinese pays more attention to the language feel as whole and sometimes the sound effect is also important while English tends to give emphasis to the focus of view.Differe

3、ntly fixed word order in English and Chinese: Mr Zhang, Protocol Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs外交部礼宾司张先生 东南西北 north, south, east and west every student of the class 班上每一个学生 Room 911 911房间华东 East China敌我矛盾contradictions between ourselves and the enemy全体老少All the people, young and old, 水火不容as

4、 patible as fire and water无论晴雨rain or shine,你、我、他you, he and I我和张同志Comrade Zhang and I您要买点什么？What do you want？What can I do for you？您九点钟能来吗？Can you come at nine？Would nine be all right？ Word order 在句中的体现：1. 汉语比较注重事物发展的客观顺序，先发生什么，后发生什么，结果怎样，最后才加上作者的评论和观点 ，注重句子的“意合”。而英语则突出主语，往往是评论、观点在前，叙述、原因在后表面形式上追求句

5、子的“形合”。我们听了你的学术报告之后，都非常高兴。 We were very delighted at listening to your academic report. 人类没有空气就无法生存，这是十分自然的。 It is very natural that man couldnt live without air.2. 汉语的位置排列，一般是把重要的，强的词语放在前面，把轻的，弱的放在后面；英语则恰好相反，越是重要的，越放在后面。救死扶伤heal the wounded and rescue the dying无地和少地的农民those peasants who have little

6、 or no land我们并不认为，他们必须或者应当采取中国的做法。We do not maintain that they should or must adopt the Chinese way.3. 时间、地点等状语的位置不同He witnessed the sixth post-war economic crisis of serious consequence that prevailed in various fields in the USA. 他亲眼目睹了美国战后第六次后果严重的波及各领域的经济危机。For this reason, our company explained

7、solemnly to your company many times in February last year. 我公司为此于去年二月郑重地多次向贵公司解释。2. Disjunctive Modifier (P188-190)Disjunctive Modifier: separate phrases or even independent clauses are preferred in the Chinese translation to bring out their exact meaning and be of a more natural word order. 1) She

8、was pardonably proud of her wonderful cooking. 她对自己能做一手好菜感到自豪，这是可以理解的。 2) The accident was still horrifyingly present in the back of her mind. 她还隐隐约约记得那次事故，但是每次回忆起时，仍然会感到毛骨悚然。3) Sometime, somewhere, some one is always bound to go mad. Where this happens, easily available guns can catastrophically wo

9、rsen the result. 某些时候，在某个地方，总有人会生气。而这个时候如果生气的人手头有枪，后果就更严重，造成灾难。4) When we feel faceless and unidentified, it is temptingly easy to do things we otherwise wouldnt. 在没有人认识我们，也没有人知道我们的身份的时候，我们会情不自禁地想做一些本来不会做的事。 Sometimes attributives can also be “Disjunctive”, eg. 1) Sometimes they view each other with

10、 regrettable suspicion. 有时他们互相怀疑，可事后又有点后悔这样。 2) The negotiations were marked all the way by haggling over face-saving details. 整个谈判过程一直在为具体细节争论不休，其实只是为了要保住面子。More Exercises1.He was visibly anxious. 2.But with such high property prices, establishing such an institution might be prohibitively expensiv

11、e. 3.Law enforcement cannot responsibly stand aloof. More Exercises1.He was visibly anxious.看的出来，他很着急。2.But with such high property prices, establishing such an institution might be prohibitively expensive.地产价格那么贵，要建这么一所机构，费用高得令人望而生畏。3.Law enforcement cannot responsibly stand aloof.司法部门如对此不闻不问，那就是失责

12、。3. Behind the Parallel Structure: the Conjunction And And in English is often used to connects words, phrases, clauses, or sentences that are to be taken jointly. In grammatical structure the parts joined by and are parallel. However, in some cases the meaning of the items joined by and may not be

13、parallel.Customer: Can you give me a room and a bath?Hotel clerk: I can give you a room, but you have to take your own bath.“bath” is secondary in meaning and refers to 卫生间as part of the room)Another example:Our company supplies this new machine and all its parts. 本公司供应这种新机器及其所有部件。1) Sometimes the w

14、ord after and modifies the word before ita necklace and gold金项链（not 项链和金子） All the maids looked at her with eye and envy.羡慕的眼神/光Bread and butter（涂了黄油的面包）；a lock and key（带钥匙的锁）；milk and water（掺了水的牛奶）2) Sometimes and emphasizes different qualities of some thing rather than its multitudinousness.There

15、are friends and friends (Which one is right?)朋友多的是到处是朋友 我们的朋友遍天下朋友跟朋友不一样，有真朋友，也有所谓的朋友You can find doctors and doctors.大夫跟大夫可不一样。3) Sometimes and means “very”. He was good and angry. 他非常生气。You will be nice and ill in the morning. 到早上你会病得很重。This time he was fine and startled. 这一次他可真的大吃一惊。4) And in spo

16、ken English means to replace the sign of infinitive to. Come and help me to lift these boxes. 来帮我抬一下这些箱子。5) Sometimes and (the tone of this pattern) shows the speaker thinks such things should not have been done or not in such a way, so blame is implied. And who has gone and told him about it? 谁那么缺德

17、，竟然告诉了他？Youve gone and woken him. Hes so tired out.你怎么搞的，竟然把他吵醒了。他可是累坏了 Youve been and bought such a pair of shoes”? 你怎么会去买一双这么难看的鞋？6) And is used to express emphasis, that is, to introduce additional meaning.Farther out, some of the houses were strictly for shelter and barely that. 再往前，（严格地说，）有的房子只

18、能遮遮风雨罢了，甚至连遮风避雨都不顶用。However, we still have ings, and very big ones too.但是我们还有缺点，而且是很大的缺点。7) And in negative sentence implies a concession.I cannot go to Beijing and not see the Great Wall.我若是到北京去，那就得去看长城。/我不能去了北京而不去看长城。I couldnt see you, and not love you.见到你，我不可能不一见钟情。In the negative sentence, the p

19、art after “and” is often negatedHe didnt speak correctly and clearly. “他没有做到讲得又对又清楚” “他讲对了，可是没有讲清楚” She cannot dance and sing. 她会跳舞，但不会唱歌。8) And is often used to form metaphors.Love and a cough cannot be hid.爱情如同 咳嗽，是藏不住的。Secrets and edged tools must be kept from children.犹如利器要放在孩子碰不到的地方，秘密也不要让孩子知道。

20、 On painting and fighting, look aloof.欣赏油画就好像看打架，要保持一定距离。And 表并列关系 9) A, B, C and D : 甲乙丙丁 10) A,B,C and so on 甲、乙、丙等。（more than 3) 11) 甲乙丙等人参加了会议？A, B, and C, among others ,attended the meeting12） A and B and C and DThis structure implies that the speaker or writer thinks that the four items are of

21、 equal important. In Chinese it may be expressed like “A也好，B也好，C也好，D也好”or“无论是A, 是B, 是C,还是D”，or simply “有A，有B，有C，有D”He would rage and curse and shout that he wasnt going.“他勃然大怒，又是骂人，又是大喊大叫，说他不去”4. The Conjunction When (P202-203)When1) as an adverb (of time in most cases)2) as a conjunction to bring o

22、ut an adverbial clause of time3) is often used to introduce other adverbial clauses, like concession, condition, etc. The meaning or the focus of the sentence will be different when when appears in different positions. 1) 表示突然发生某事或紧接着发生某事，常可译为“还没/刚刚就”，“正在忽然”或“正要这时”，主要用于“had donewhen，be doingwhen和be

23、about to dowhen”这三个句式. I had hardly opened the door when the man hit me.我刚打开门，那个人就打了我一拳。 I was reading a book attentively when an old friend came to see me.我正在全神贯注地读一本书，忽然一位老友来访。I was about to swim in the river when the guide told me there was man-eating fish in it.我正要下河游泳这时导游告诉我河里有食人鱼。2)表示对比，常可译为“本

24、该/本可以却”Why are you here when you should be at school？你本应在上学，怎么会在这儿？Why did you take a taxi when you could walk here within five minutes？ 你本来五分钟就可以走到这儿，为什么还打的？3)表示让步，常可译为“既然”或“在情况下”How can they learn anything when they spend all their time watching TV？既然他们把所有的时间都花在了看电视上，又怎么会学到东西呢？5. Repetition Word a

25、nd Word Repetition 1) Omission 这儿是宝地！要不是宝地，怎么人越来越多？ This is a lucky place; if it isnt, why do more and more people come to live here?我们能够去掉不良作风，保持优良作风。We can get rid of a bad style and keep the good.不管跟人交朋友，还是跟书交朋友，都应该交好朋友。One should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.

26、2) Substitution 我们的民族将再也不是被人侮辱的民族了，我们已经站起来了。 Ours will no longer be a nation subject to insult and humiliation. We have stood up.“妈，别听王奶奶的！王奶奶是个老顽固！” “Mum, dont listen to Granny Wang; shes an old diehard/fogy.”非洲人民正在为争取非洲的彻底解放进行着艰苦的斗争。 The people of Africa are waging a hard struggle to win the compl

27、ete emancipation of the continent. 你答应了帮助他就应当帮助他。 You should help him since you have promised to do so.3) Combination中国人民历来是勇于探索、勇于创造、勇于革命的。 The people of China have always been courageous enough to probe into things, to make inventions and to make revolution.4) Partial Repetition新民主主义的文化主张实事求是，主张客观

28、真理，主张理论与实践的一致。 New democratic culture stands for seeking truth from facts, for objective truth and for the unity of theory and practice. 重重叠叠山， 曲曲环环路， 丁丁冬冬泉， 高高下下树。 The hills-range after range The trails-winding and climbing The creeks-murmuring and gurgling; The trees-high and lowly.5) Complete Rep

29、etition他们偷，他们抢，他们欺诈，谁也不敢惹他们。 They steal, they rob, they swindle; no one dares to cross their path.6) Plural Nouns for Repetition战争是民族和民族，国家和国家，阶级和阶级，政治集团和政治集团之间的互相斗争的最高形式。 War is the highest form of struggle between nations, states, classes or political groups.Exercises1. 我们的国家现在还是一个很穷的国家。2. 你不愿意落后，

30、她也不愿意落后。3. 要采取果断措施，快出人才，多出人才。4. 赶超世界先进水平，关键是时间。时间就是生命，时间就是速度，时间就是力量。 Exercises我们的国家现在还是一个很穷的国家。 Our country is still a very poor one.你不愿意落后，她也不愿意落后。 You dont want to lag behind. Neither does she.要采取果断措施，快出人才，多出人才。 Resolute measures must be taken to train able people in greater numbers and at a faste

31、r rate.赶超世界先进水平，关键是时间。时间就是生命，时间就是速度，时间就是力量。 In catching up with and surpassing the worlds advanced levels, time is the key factor. Time means life, time means speed, and time means strength.6. Information Condensed in the Attributive Modifier (P207-222) Attributive Modifier can contain much informat

32、ion and help make the sentence succinct. When translating, we should analyze the semantic or logical relationship in order to bring out the meaning condensed in the attributive. Eg. 1) He resumed his meditative smoking of the cigar. 他重新抽起雪茄，一边抽一边思考。 2) He cast a weather eye ahead to a low bank of cl

33、ouds on the horizon. 他看了一眼前方地平线上很低处的云堤，预测天气情况。 Very often attributives can be translated into different adverbials:1) As cause There was an amazed silence. Slowly Alexander turned away. 人们一阵惊讶，默不作声，亚历山大慢慢转过身去走了。2) As purpose The crowd fell into respectable silence. 人们出于尊敬，安静了下来。3) As manner He watch

34、ed all this through sophisticated eyes, meditating his next move with a studied coldness. 他很世故，冷冷地看着这一切，心里却在盘算下一步棋怎么走。4) As result The two leaders prolonged the clasp for the photographers, exchanging smiling words. 这两位领导人握手握了很长时间，让记者们拍照，微笑着交谈。5) Of parallel meaning with the modified Her lips and ch

35、in had a gentle firmness. 她的嘴唇和下巴既柔和又坚决。 He kept nodding in sympathetic understanding at everything and never once collapsing into giggle at the absurdity of it all. 无论听到什么，他都点点头，表示同情和理解，从来没有因为听到什么荒唐的话而咯咯笑个不停。 In most cases, the modifiers should be left out when translated into English. eg. P217-220

36、蒸发作用 Evaporation吹毛求疵的作法 fault-finding 优雅气质 gracefulness必要性 necessity现代化 modernization 冷漠态度 indifference转化过程 transformation隔离政策/隔离措施 segregation轻松愉快的心境 light-heartedness to persuade 说服 persuasion说服工作to prepare 准备 preparation准备工作backward 落后 backwardness落后状态tense 紧张 tension紧张局势arrogant 自满 arrogance自满情绪

37、mad 疯狂 madness 疯狂行为antagonistic敌对 antagonism 敌对态度7. The Relative Clause (P222-228) The relative clause, usu. called attributive clause, can serve as adverbials of cause, purpose, result, concession time, condition, and contrast. (P223-225) The translation should be based on the actual meaning of the

38、 relative clauses. Sometimes its necessary to “break up” the original sentence structure and make re-arrangement.Eg.1) When deeply absorbed in work, which he often was, he would forget all about eating and sleeping. 他常常埋头于工作，废寝忘食。2) The fair, willowy prettiness which I used to elevate into beauty ha

39、s matured into an assured elegance. 以前在我心目中无比美丽的柳枝如今长成依依垂柳，仪态万千。3) Time is very slow for those who wait, very fast for those who are scared, very long for those who lament, very short for those who celebrate. But, for those who love, time is eternity. (William Shakespeare) 等待中的人觉得时间过得很慢，受惊吓的人觉得时间过得飞

40、快；对哀叹的人而言，时间漫漫悠长；对欢庆的人而言， 时间稍纵即逝。可是在热恋中的人看来，时间就是永恒。8. Rhetorical Comparison (P228-232) The form of comparison is often used for several purposes besides denoting comparison.1) To express contrast Prayer is less about changing the world than it is about changing ourselves. 其实，与其说祈祷能改变世界，还不如说能改变我们自己。

41、2) To express emphasis He never says a word more than is absolutely necessary. 除非绝对必要，他不会多说一个字。 Dont suppose they liked it, but they must have known better than to argue. 别以为他们是喜欢，只不过他们很明智，不想争论罢了。3) To form metaphors Having children make you no more a parent than having a piano makes you a pianist.

42、拥有一架钢琴不见得一定会成为钢琴演奏家，同样，有孩子也不一定会成为好父母。 A big elephant is no more an animal than a little cat is. 大象是动物，小猫（虽小）同样也是动物。/小猫（虽小）和大象一样也是动物。 4) To express mild negation Such work requires more than indomitable will. 要做好这项工作，光有不屈不挠的意志是不够的。 Urban heat causes bigger problems than sweat stains and short tempers

43、. 城里的酷热造成的问题不只是人们汗流浃背，脾气暴躁。 There is more to life than increasing its speed. 生活远不只是加快节奏（速度）就够了。9. Hypotaxis (English) and Parataxis (Chinese)(P232-243) Hypotaxis is the dependent or subordinate construction or relationship of clauses with connectives, for example, “I shall despair if you dont come.”

44、 English sentence building is featured by hypotaxis. Parataxis is the arranging of clauses one after the other without showing the relation between them. For example, “聪明一世，糊涂一时。”（Smart as a rule, but this time a fool.）Chinese sentence building is featured by parataxis. English vs Chinesegrape-vine

45、structure bambooarchitectural style chronicala string of pearls a tray of pearls “英语句子好比一棵参天大树，一串葡萄，一串珍珠，一树荔枝。而汉语句子好比一根杆子，一盘珠子，一江波涛。” 陈安定9.1 Examples of Using Connectives 我是北京人，我认识那个地方。 Im from Beijing, so/ therefore I know that place. (causal)我是北京人，我丈夫也是北京人。 I was born in Beijing and my husband was

46、 born in Beijing, too. (additive)我是北京人，我将会感到格外幸福。 If I were a native Beijinger, I would feel all the more happy. (supposal)我是北京人，我不怎么喜欢北京春天的气候。 I am from Beijing, but I dont like the weather of Beijings spring. (adversative)我是北京人，你是哪里人？ I am from Beijing, and where are you from? (parallel)我是北京人，最爱吃炸

47、酱面。 I am from Beijing, and I like noodles with fried soya bean paste best. (no semantic relation)4）孟子曰：“鱼，我所欲也；熊掌，亦我所欲也。二者不可皆得，舍鱼而取熊掌者也。生，我所欲也；义，亦我所欲也。二者不可皆得，舍生而取义者也。” Mencius said, “I like fish and I also like bears paws. If I cant have the two together, I will let the fish go and take the bears paws. In a similar way, I like life, and I also like righteousness. If I cant have the two together, I will give up my life to preserve rig